The Wishing Spell

A tall young woman descends the stairs into a dank dungeon heading straight for the cell that houses the most dangerous criminal. The man standing guard tells her that no one is allowed to see this prisoner, but he relents when he realizes that he’s talking to the queen of the kingdom, Snow White. The prisoner is the Evil Queen, Snow White’s stepmother. A simple but burning question brought Snow White to the dungeon and she poses it to the Evil Queen now. Why did she do it? Why did she neglect and try to kill her stepdaughter? Why was she so obsessed with her own beauty and power?

Although everyone describes her stepmother as the Evil Queen (emphasis on the evil) Snow White wants to believe that she has a heart—a real heart, not the heart of stone that she’s kept in her possession ever since Snow White can remember. Indeed, the heart of stone sits on a table in the corner of the cell even now.

Picking up the heart of stone, Snow White says that the only thing she ever wanted was the Evil Queen’s love and attention. She confesses that she recognized the stepmother when she disguised herself and tried to poison Snow White with an apple, but she still let her stepmother in the door because she was so desperate to have a relationship with her. Snow White bursts into tears, but the stepmother reacts with anger rather than compassion. Accusing Snow White of being spoiled, she points out that she had a whole life before her marriage of which Snow White knows nothing.

Suddenly ashamed of her ignorance, Snow White asks—demands—to hear about it. Warning her stepdaughter that hers is not a tale that ends with happily ever after, the Evil Queen closes her eyes, lets her memories resurface, and begins.